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TL;DR:

  • The Beatles’ “Free as a Bird” battled a Michael Jackson song for chart supremacy in the 1990s.
  • The Jackson song in question is similar to “We Are the World.”
  • The King of Pop explained the inspiration behind the track.

The Beatles‘ “Free as a Bird” was a massive comeback for the band. Despite this, a Michael Jackson song prevented “Free as a Bird” stopped it from hitting No. 1 in the United Kingdom. The King of Pop discussed what inspired him to write the tune in the first place.

The Beatles’ ‘Free as a Bird’ came out in 1995

The Beatles’ “Free as a Bird” became a hit in 1995, 25 years after The Beatles’ breakup. According the Los Angeles Times, the tune was originally a 1977 demo John Lennon wrote for an unfinished musical called The Ballad of John and Yoko.

Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr worked with Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra to complete “Free as a Bird.” One might assume this song would reach No. 1 in the United Kingdom, considering it was the first new Beatles song in a generation. Despite this, Smooth Radio reports Jackson’s “Earth Song” kept it from the top spot in the U.K.

The Beatles’ ‘Free as a Bird’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ are both awful

In a way, “Free as a Bird” and “Earth Song” are very similar songs. They are both the sound of some of the most talented acts in the history of pop music at their worst. “Free as a Bird” is a dirge with a terrible melody. No wonder why John never bothered to finish it!

Meanwhile, “Earth Song” is the King of Pop at his most treacly. It’s like a one-man “We Are the World” about the environment. At some points in the song, Jackson sounds like he’s crying. “Earth Song”‘s gospel-tinged chorus is so concerned with sounding grandiose that it forgets to sound good.

Related

Michael Jackson Said 2 of The Beatles’ Songs Were So Beautiful They Didn’t Need Lyrics

Michael Jackson explained why he wrote a song about the Earth in an Austrian hotel

According to Smooth Radio, Jackson explained why he penned “Earth Song.” “I remember writing ‘Earth Song’ when I was in Austria, in a hotel,” he recalled. “I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth’s song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement of the Earth.

“And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think Earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it’s about some of the joys of the planet as well,” he added. “But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is ‘Earth Song.’ And that’s what inspired it. And it just suddenly dropped into my lap when I was on tour in Austria.”

“Free as a Bird” and “Earth Song” aren’t well-remembered today but they were both very popular in the 1990s.

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